


The Consequence of Choice

by Silverdrift



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Blood and Injury, Character Death, Hurt, Mercy Killing, Post-Game(s), Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 20:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverdrift/pseuds/Silverdrift
Summary: After everything that happened with his father and his home, Ferdinand chose to side with Claude and fight the Empire. He knew this would mean having to face those he once called friend in battle... But there was one person that he couldn't bear to face. Yet it seems fate would never be kind to him.





	The Consequence of Choice

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for a request on Tumblr fory Bad Things Happen Bingo. For the prompt "Dragging them self along the ground"

It had been a grueling battle, but they had done it. Edelgard now laid dead at the foot of her throne. The war was at its end and Fodlan was safe. Why then did Ferdinand not feel the relief, the joy that went with such a monumental occasion? Perhaps because he felt he should have died along with them. The Empire was his home after all, and he had betrayed it. Or perhaps his mind was just mourning the loss of someone that he once called friend, though truthfully the depth of his feelings had gone beyond that. He was happy in their victory of course, he knew that had done what needed to be done… but the scene was still fresh in his mind. Claude had engaged Hubert, they had their dramatic hero villain talk and then attacked at the same time. The explosion from the dark magic made it difficult to see what had happened at first… but when the dust settled, Claude was picking himself, his bow, and his shell-shocked wyvern up off the ground. Hubert was not so lucky. The mental image of Hubert laying there, motionless, three arrows sticking out of his torso… Ferdinand couldn’t bear the thought any longer. 

So why was he so compelled to go back to the spot where the mage had fallen? He convinced himself that it was merely to pay his last respects and left before anyone asked questions. 

The walk down all those stairs and out the door took a lot less time than he had really hoped and he found himself standing at the top of the palace steps, looking out over what had been their battlefield not long before. The dead still laid exactly where they had fallen, their blood only mostly dried under the late afternoon sun. His eyes scanned the area with a twinge of pain before coming to rest where Hubert laid… or rather, where he was supposed to have been laying. Instead, the arrows that had struck him down laid there beside the dagger Hubert always carried and a large smear of blood as if the body had been dragged away, but no body. At first Ferdinand thought perhaps the clean up had begun and they started with the emperor’s vassal, but further inspection made that seem unlikely. The blood on the ground lead toward where he stood, toward the palace steps. No one would have brought him this way… unless… Ferdinand inhaled sharply, closing his eyes briefly as if it might just make this all go away. It wasn’t possible, was it? Surely not. This was all wishful thinking. Still… maybe he just wanted to know for sure or it was hope, but finally he opened his eyes and followed the trail to the bottom of the steps.

Immediately, he wished he hadn’t.

There below him was Hubert, alive but only just, struggling to pull himself to the palace as if he could have done anything in his state. Ferdinand reacted before he could think about it, running down the steps and kneeling beside the man. “H-Hubert…” He reached out to try and help him, only to get his hand weakly smacked away. “Hubert, please. Let me help you.”

“I do not need your help.” Hubert spat, glaring at him with what Ferdinand thought was hatred.

“Do not be a fool. If you do not get help you will die.” 

“Then I die.” 

“She is gone, Hubert…” Ferdinand looked away after he said it. The emotionally pained noise he heard was enough, he didn’t need to see the look that went with it. “There is no reason for you to perish here now… please.” 

“All the more reason then… though I don’t expect a traitor to understand…” There was a twinge of emotion in his voice. It could have just been finding out that the woman he was bound to serve was dead, but there seemed to be more to it. The way he practically spat out the word traitor, laced with venom and sadness, caused a stir in Ferdinand. His eyes snapped back to Hubert, a heated look burning within them.

“I did what needed to be done! She was mad, Hubert! She had to die… but I can’t… you…” He trailed off, glancing away yet again as tears stung his eyes. Taking a moment to compose himself, he cleared his throat and moved to pull Hubert onto his back, head in his lap, deciding he must act and ignoring the weak struggle he received in return. “Stop it. I need to stop the bleeding so I can get you to-” He was cut off by his own gasp. The wound were deep and in bad places but it might have been salvageable if Hubert hadn’t removed the arrows so crudely or drug himself along the ground as he had… Now Ferdinand wasn’t sure Hubert would make it even if Marianne was there right then. “O-oh goddess… no…”

“Is it… really that bad?” Hubert asked, voice softer now, a twinge of forced amusement in his tone. He knew. The pain was being slowly replaced by an unsettling numbness and he felt hopelessly weak. His rush to get back to Edelgard caused him to lack the care he would have normally had removing the arrows. He knew he was going to die. 

“This is no time for… for your sarcasm, Hubert!” Ferdinand tried to sound angry, he really did… but it only came out heartbroken. He could no longer stop the tears from falling in a steady stream down his face. “I… I-I do not know what to do… I cannot just leave you here…”

“It doesn’t look like you have much choice.” 

“There must be something!” He shouted, inwardly cursing himself for making Hubert jump as it obvious caused him a great deal of pain. Still, despite going through every scenario he could, nothing helpful came to mind. The mage's breathing was raspy and growing more and more shallow with each passing minute. Hubert was suffering and there was nothing Ferdinand could do.

Nothing except… 

Ferdinand squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath, trying not to let his emotions overrun him. “I… I am sorry, Hubert…” He said softly as he pulled his own dagger off his belt, a gift from Hubert shortly before the war, and plunged it swiftly into Hubert's chest. Already weak from his injuries, the man in his lap died quickly, but Ferdinand swore he saw him smile as he breath his last. The weight of what he had just done and everything else came crashing down on top of him soon after, sob racking his body as he leaned down to place a single kiss upon Hubert's forehead. “I had no choice…”

Ferdinand stayed there for a long time, only moving when Claude and the others came down to leave. He got to his feet slowly, lifting Hubert's limp form up with him and giving Claude a pleading look, hoping he might be allowed to give him a proper burial. The alliance leader just gave him a knowing smile and nodded. 

Once the grave was dug, covered and marked… Ferdinand knelt down to give it once last farewell. Yes, in the end, Hubert had been his enemy, but that would never have taken away the connection they had before the war. Ferdinand knew he had chosen what was right, but it did make him any less heartbroken… but the sight of his comrades kneeling alongside him, paying respects to Hubert as if he had been one of their own? That at least brought a smile to his face.


End file.
